Antler Industry Research Articles

Mechanical properties as conditioning factors in the bone and antler industry of the 3rd to the 13th century AD

Preference for antler over bone is a feature of the late Roman to early medieval industry based on skeletal materials, whose key product is the composite comb. Using static three-point bending tests, the mechanical properties of dry bone and antler are compared and the superiority of antler, in the form of greater toughness, is demonstrated. By the same method the rationale behind the construction of composite combs is explained. An empirical appreciation of these mechanical factors by the manufacturers is implied by the results of these objective tests.

The Bone Tool‐Manufacturing Ability of Australopithecus Prometheus

American AnthropologistVolume 62, Issue 1 p. 134-138 Free Access The Bone Tool-Manufacturing Ability of Australopithecus Prometheus RAYMOND A. DART, RAYMOND A. DART University of Witwatersrand, JohannesburgSearch for more papers by this author RAYMOND A. DART, RAYMOND A. DART University of Witwatersrand, JohannesburgSearch for more papers by this author First published: February 1960 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1960.62.1.02a00080Citations: 13AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL REFERENCES CITED Arkell, A. J. 1957 A possibly palaeolithic bone spatula from Egypt. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society n.s. 23: 234– 236. Breuil, Henri 1939 Bone and antler industry of the Choukoutien Sinanthropus site. Palaeontologia Sinica new series D, no.6, whole series no.117. Peiping, Geological Survey of China. Clark, W. E. Le Gros 1957 Humans and hominids. Review of The osteodontokeratic culture of Australopithecus prometheus, by R. A. Dart. Nature 180: 156. Dart, R. A. 1957a The osteodontokeratic culture of Australopithecus prometheus. Memoir of the Transvaal Museum, No. 10. Pretoria. Dart, R. A. 1957b The Makapansgat australopithecine osteodontokeratic culture. In Proceedings of the third Pan-African Congress on prehistory, Livingstone, J. D. Clark ed., London, Chatto. Dart, R. A. 1957c An australopithecine object from Makapansgat. Nature 179: 693– 695. Dart, R. A. 1958a Bone tools and porcupine gnawing. American Anthropologist 60: 715– 724. Dart, R. A. 1958b The minimal bone-breccia content of Makapansgat and the australopithecine predatory habit. American Anthropologist 60: 923– 931. Dart, R. A. 1959a An “australopithecine” scoop from Herefordshire. Nature 183: 844. Dart, R. A. 1959b Cannon-bone scoops and daggers. South African Journal of Science 55: 79– 82. Dart, R. A. 1959c The ape-men tool-makers of a million years ago: South African Australopithecus—his life, habits and skills. Illustrated London News 234: 798– 801. Dart, R. A. 1959d Further light on humeral and femoral weapons. American Journal of Physical Anthropology (in press). Dart, R. A. 1959e Osteodontokeratic ripping tools and pulp-scoops for teething and edentulous aus-tralopithecines. Journal of the Dental Association of South Africa (in press). M. H. Fried ed., 1959 Comments on The cultural status of the South African man-apes, by R. A. Dart, reprinted in Readings in Anthropology, vol. 1. New York, Crowell. Mason, R. J., R. A. Dart and J. W. Kitching 1958 Bone tools at the Kalkbank Middle Stone Age site and the Makapansgat australopithecine locality, Central Transvaal. South African Archaeological Bulletin 13: 85– 116. Mayr, E. 1950 Taxonomic categories in fossil hominids. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 15: 109– 118. Singer, R. 1956 The “bone tools” from Hopefield. American Anthropologist 58: 1127– 1134. Straus, W. L., Jr. 1957 Saldanha man and his culture. Science 125: 973– 974. Washburn, S. L. 1957 Australopithecines: the hunters or the hunted. American Anthropologist 59: 612– 614. Citing Literature Volume62, Issue1February 1960Pages 134-138 ReferencesRelatedInformation